New Huffington Post Blog from Jon Foreman: “Why I Refuse To Protest Protestors”

Jon just posted a brand new blog on the Huffington Post, cleverly titled “Why I Refuse to Protest Protestors”. It’s been entirely too long since we’ve had a new Huffington Post blog from Jon Foreman, so we’re pretty stoked to see he’s writing these again. This one is definitely going to raise some interesting discussion we feel… so give it a read, then head to the comments to discuss your thoughts with other fans. By the way, you can check out previous HuffPo blogs from Jon right over HERE.

Rock and roll has been my education ever since I dropped out of college. But not even college and certainly not rock and roll could have prepared me for what I experienced the other day. My band and I were in Oklahoma on tour — hanging out backstage getting ready for the show when I heard a loud voice yelling out in front the venue. I thought it must be some sort of emergency so I grabbed a jacket and ran outside to see what had happened. As I rounded the corner I was shocked at what I saw. There was a line of people waiting to get into the venue. And across the street there were a few folks gathered around a man with a megaphone shouting that “Switchfoot will lead you straight to hell.”

Have you ever been picketed against? Protested? I’m not talking about a drunk heckler on the corner, here. I’m talking about sober minded men and women (and kids), prepared with bullhorns and signs and sermonettes protesting our art and our presence in the city. And showing up night after night! Let me tell you, when people are protesting you personally it feels pretty discouraging. It’s really hard to know what to do. The knee-jerk reaction is to fight back — to buy a megaphone and start yelling back. Yes, I have some pretty big disagreements with these folks, but I don’t trust myself with a bullhorn. I don’t want to just perpetuate hostility — I want a conversation. I want a better song — for them and for me. So I just stood there for a while and took it all in. I wanted to learn from the situation, and move forward.

All at once I had an epiphany: these puzzling creatures that are yelling at you are human souls — as unpredictable, perplexing and unpredictable as I am. Here’s the shocker: this guy with the bullhorn could be my cousin! he could be a friend of mine! Better yet: this guy could be me! If our lives were swapped, who can say that I would be any different? I put nothing below me. Who can say what I would do if I had his reality? Compassion makes you realize what you have in common with the rest of humanity. From my perspective, it feels like he’s in a low place. But shouldn’t that necessitate that much more compassion on my end? I am not against this man. I am for him. I want his true song to sing out — above the cacophonous din that he’s echoing now. Above the yells — above the hate and anger and hurt. Yes, I have to believe that his true song is better than that. And I am rooting for him. Pulling for him! It doesn’t matter whether he is for me or against me — I am for him.

These people might say that they are against what we do and who I am, but I refuse to be against them. I refuse to protest protestors. I will not be opposed to the opposition. I will not antagonize the antagonist, nor hate on the haters. I am not at all against them — in fact, I am for them. I am rooting for them, praying for them. I honestly love them! They are flawed, beautiful, hopeful, hopeless people just like me.

Yes, there are many things that are wrong with the world. So many things to be against — but you can’t be against everything. At some point you have to begin to stand for something. Maybe the most important question is not what am I against, but what do I stand for? On my best days, I want to stand for love conquering a multitude of wrongs. I want to stand for forgiveness, for mercy, for beauty, for grace. I stand for you, sir and madame. Whether you are holding a megaphone or not. Even when you refuse to shake my hand I love you. Whether you insult me or not, drunk or sober; I honestly love you! I love your passion, your fervor, your dedication. I want to know you better. I want to find out what makes you tick. I want to know why you believe what you believe. I want to learn from you. I am for you, emphatically for you!

And whoever is reading this, I love you too! I don’t love you because of our similarities. In fact, I make no assumption of shared faith. I can only assume that you and I are radically different — we live in different cities, we have different pursuits, different jobs, different upbringings. And finally, when it comes to what you believe or disbelieve, I would imagine that we all hold widely different understandings of what God is or isn’t. And in this diversity is where the conversation has to begin. If conversation doesn’t start here in spite of our differences, the dialogue will never begin. I love you and I love our differences. I’m not secretly hoping that you become more like me.

In the arts, diversity is what gives us our color and spice — it’s the differences and the contrasts that make our world beautiful. Why wouldn’t we celebrate our differences? Why wouldn’t we learn from each other, letting the strengths of others enlighten our weaknesses? Maybe we’re afraid. Maybe we’ve been wounded in the past and we fear more of the same. Maybe we question our own worth. If we find others who have more to offer, we begin to doubt our own purpose in the conversation. We begin to doubt our convictions and meaning in life. What if we made a mistake? What if we were wrong? We all have those fears from time to time. I know I do. In fact, I usually yell the loudest when I’m unsure about something. I have never been in a screaming match about a mathematical sum. Not since the days of Pythagorus has there been an argument in the kitchen about the facts of long division. No, we yell about the intangible, subjective stuff that makes us feel insecure. We yell about politics. We yell about God.

But God isn’t yelling. God seems pretty sure of himself. It’s the rest of us that are in question. But maybe there’s a deeper reason why God’s not yelling back. Maybe he refuses to oppose the opposition. Maybe he loves the haters and believes in the non-believers. Maybe he’s rooting for the ones that no one cares about; the broken and the poor. The lost souls and the protesters. Who knows, maybe even me?

I saw Switchfoot two days ago in my home town of Stroudsburg PA! Crazy how they would come to a relatively small town like this! The crowd was kinda small too but the concert was Amazing(luckily no protesters). So I'm loving Switchfoot more than ever now, but I don't get this situation. This post is pretty good, but I do not understand how many people think that the protesters are acting purely in hate, and it seems like Jon does too. I don't really agree with anything I heard from the protesters in that one video, but I don't think they were hateful. They are just really warped people with a false sense of what God is about trying to do what they think is right, however doing it in an incorrect tone. I know many of you guys think that the guys are handling this situation well, but I don't know. To keep talking about it seems like they may be using this as a way to promote themselves and the way the are handling it. It basically saying "look at this hate we are receiving and look how we are gonna handle it" it brings attention to them instead of the attention being on the love of others. I would prefer the guys just say nothing and continue on the way they always have, and of course say something if it gets violent. But until then, be a light by not saying anything and keep doing what you do. I could be wrong but that is JMHO. Thanks.

Cal

11 months ago

Haha i wish they would come to a relatively small town like Geelong, Australia!
I really appreciate your comments, because of their straightforward honesty, although i don't completely agree with them.
I think that saying they aren't necessarily acting out of hatred is correct, so no-one should be saying that, but they are still acting WRONGLY, which is what i think Jon is addressing. I dont get the feeling that hes saying 'LOOK AT ME!!! look at how good i was when faced with those EVIL people'. i think hes actually saying 'LOOK AT LOVE!!! look at what love is and how love reacts to evil'.
and he can say that about himself with humility because he is filled with the Love of the great Lover, Jesus.

I also think the comment of 'not saying anything and keep doing what you're doing' is a little bit of a cop out, because its very hard to change anything by just being a silent person. I agree, actions speak louder than words, but not always.

Anyway, I kind of understand what you're frustrated about because my thinking is similar in a lot of cases.

Beautiful! I love reading these posts!! I wish he wrote more though. He is such an inspiring and thoughtful man of God. He is the person you just want to set down and talk to for hours and hours about everything. Thanks for this LOBH and Jon ;-)

Amy

11 months ago

This response is seriously amazing. I had a similar situation happen to me and my band a year ago. A concert was put together to raise money for a youth group's mission trip in our area, and our band was playing there. Protesters, who believed the same thing as those who protested Switchfoot, came to the show to take videos of us and post them on their website to show that we were of the devil, even though we were doing this for a great cause. I wish that I had had the same response as Jon at first. I was very upset inside when this happened, and my first response was not to love them no matter what they do. Through time I realized that God loves them no matter what, and I should too. Reading this article and seeing Switchfoot's response to them was extremely humbling. I want to have this kind of love of everyone.

Lilly

11 months ago

Wow, Jon is such an amazing person, makes you want to love them too!
Love alone is worth the fight!! :D

I was shocked to hear about this protest, I can't even comprehend why this would happen, but then there are many strange events in this would. My daughters & I worked their Merch. table at the Brady Theater last November we were told there were protesters outside then, but they apparently did not stay long, we never did see them, a security guard told me about it. Well after I saw the video of Jon trying to speak with them (I think it was at he Brady Theater this year) while the other guy was yelling through his megaphone at Jon, I have decided we will not ever miss another concert of Switchfoot when they come to Oklahoma. Jon thanks for your awesome words in this article & the awesome words in your music, we also appreciate everyones talent in the band & also all the beautiful songs from jons Spring/Summer/Fall/ Winter,love them all. We have been Switchfoot fans for many years I have taken my girls to many of their concerts over the years. Love you guys! P.S. I want to say a Happy 40th to Drew!